The Coalition Avenir Quebec said Monday night’s by-election is sending a strong message to the Liberal Party.

Newcomer Genevieve Guilbault captured 51.04 per cent of the vote in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hebert.

The riding traded hands between the Liberal Party and the Parti Quebecois from its creation in 1966 until Sam Hamad was elected in 2003; it has been Liberal ever since.

On Monday night, both CAQ leader Francois Legault and PQ leader Jean-Francois Lisée called it a "Liberal fortress," and though the CAQ felt a win was within their grasp, party members said they were surprised by the magnitude of the win.

Legault said it send a scathing message to the Liberal government that there can be changes in 2018.

“Tonight showed us that we can beat the Liberals just about anywhere in Quebec. We had a very large majority,” he said.

Hamad was removed from Premier Couillard's cabinet in 2016 following allegations he had helped a company trying to win a government grant, and stepped down as an MNA earlier this year.

Ihssane El Ghernati, a former political attaché for Liberal cabinet minister Sam Hamad before he resigned from politics, was second with about 18.71 per cent of the vote. The PQ finished third with 16.26 per cent.

The Liberal Party struggled to find someone willing to replace Hamad as a candidate, finally settling on Eric Tetrault. However on Sept. 6, Tetrault withdrew his candidacy following allegations that he had harassed co-workers.

The CAQ candidate also withdrew at the same time following similar allegations, clearing the way for Guilbault's candidacy.

The 34-year-old newcomer is a former Liberal political attaché.

She lives in the riding and had been planning to run in the Quebec City area next year, during the 2018 general election, following the birth of her child. She is due to give birth in three months.

Guilbeault said her election despite the pregnancy sends a positive message that young women who have families can get into politics.

“Of course I thank my companion for being available to go in this journey with me and to take care of the child – the soon to be born child – and that’s a family project. I think it reflects the reality in 2017,” she said.

Coalition Avenir Quebec Genevieve Guilbault celebrates her victory in a provincial by-election in the riding of Louis-Hebert, Monday, October 2, 2017 in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Coalition for Quebec’s Future captured the riding of Louis-Hebert in a provincial byelection on Monday, wresting away what was once considered a safe Liberal seat and a Quebec City-area stronghold for the governing party since 2003.

Former coroner’s office spokeswoman Genevieve Guilbault was assured victory in the riding for the third-place Coalition party, garnering just over 51 per cent of vote.

Ex-political attache Ihssane El Ghernati finished second with almost 19 per cent and Parti Quebecois candidate Norman Beauregard took third place with just over 16 per cent.

Voter turnout was registered at 52.4 per cent according to the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec.

Voters in the riding went to the polls to choose a new member of the legislature, left vacant after the departure of longtime Liberal Sam Hamad in April.

The byelection was considered an important test for the governing Liberals in a riding they’d held for years with comfortable majorities, especially with the next provincial election around the corner in 2018.

The campaign was chaotic from the outset, with both the Liberal and Coalition original candidates dropping out within hours of each other over allegations of psychological harassment dating back to their former jobs.

The result leaves the governing Liberals with 68 of the 125 seats in the legislature, compared with 28 for the PQ, 21 for the Coalition, and three for Quebec solidaire. There are five Independent members.

The runoff was a record 15th byelection in Quebec since the last provincial election in April 2014.

The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) won his bet : his candidate Genevieve Guilbault won Monday night’s by-election in Louis-Hébert, putting an end to the reign of liberal 14 years in this district.

A strong majority of 7658 votes, the 34 year old woman, ex-spokesman for the coroner’s Office, is the successor to the liberal mna Sam Hamad, who announced his withdrawal from political life on the 27th of April.

“I join the change team, so you want here in Louis-Hébert, and that we shall have the happiness to embody,” said the new elected caquiste, after having thoroughly thanked his team and his family. “I am committed to represent you with dignity and the utmost integrity,” she said to voters.

The leader of the CAQ, François Legault, has welcomed the “new star” of the policy, ” the one who has made the falling of a fortress liberal “. “It happened today in Louis-Hébert, but there is a wind of change blowing everywhere in Quebec “, he started by thanking the citizens of Louis-Hébert for the “clear message” that they sent.

Geneviève Guilbault has collected 51,04 % of the vote, ahead of the candidates ‘ liberal and pq Ihssane El Ghernati and Normand Beauregard. The fight was very hot between these two candidates, who have harvested 18,71 % and 16,26 % of the vote, respectively. The candidate solidarity Guillaume Boivin is in fourth place, with 5.21 per cent of the votes.

As soon as the announcement of the first results, the activists caquistes gathered at the Club de golf de Cap-Rouge believed in the victory. “The score was good ! “, “You have not worked for nothing,” shouted the approximately 150 people present.

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I join the change team, so you want here in Louis-Hébert, and that we will have the joy of incarnating.
Geneviève Guilbault

As François Legault, Genevieve Guilbault are admitted surprised with the results overwhelming of their training policy. “The majority that we get is beyond our expectations “, said the head caquiste, who had referred to a “scanning” a little earlier. “I think that it occurs beyond our expectations tonight, beyond mine in any case?”, has also responded to the new elected.

The most recent rookie caquiste has identified traffic congestion as the primary issue that it intends to enter. “The widening of highway 138, link [avenue] Blaise-Pascal to [highway] Duplessis?: build these folders for the next year?” she illustrated.

The liberals perplexed

The atmosphere was quite different at the meeting place of the liberals. The activists had mine serious, many are asking, even if the party would at least get second, ahead of the Parti québécois, which has long threatened to take the second rank.

Accompanied by the prime minister, Philippe Couillard, the candidate defeat Ihssane El Ghernati has, however, been welcomed in all the excitement, a little before 22 h.

“The first person I want to compliment, it is our candidate. Thank you ! ” was first said by the prime minister, before promising to set the folder of the factory Anacolor despite the defeat of his party. “To the people of Cap-Rouge who have asked to Ihssane to ensure that the plant Anacolor moved, I tell them “?we are going to do?” “said Mr. Couillard, who has also promised to advance the issue of the extension of the motorway to Saint-Augustin. “It is such that we can provide a policy. […] Of course, I would have liked a different outcome, but it does not detract from the strength of the commitment that we made to the population. “

Invited to comment on the results, the minister responsible for the national capital region, François Blais pointed out that ” a partial, it is always more difficult for the government “. “A partial does not predict what will happen in a general election “, he added. “Tonight, no one has chosen the government of Quebec. “

“I am proud of myself today,” said the candidate, in defeat, before congratulating Genevieve Guilbault for his victory.

By winning the Louis-Hébert, the Coalition avenir Quebec has put the hand on a second district on the North Shore of Quebec, where the liberals now hold eight of the eleven districts.

To 53,54 %, the participation rate of the partial has been very high. The last two elections, in Gouin and Arthabaska, had attracted 33 % and 34 % of the electorate.

A campaign incredible

The district of the district west of the agglomeration of Quebec city has undergone an election campaign fantastic. Candidates liberal and caquiste, Éric Tétrault and Normand Sauvageau, in turn resigned, on the 6th of September, due to allegations of harassment in the workplace having caught up.

The liberal Ihsanne El Ghernati, 51 years old, and the caquiste Genevieve Guilbault, 34 years old, have them replaced at short notice.

The winner, an ex-spokesman for the coroner’s Office, has campaigned on the theme of integrity, and the renewal policy. Geneviève Guilbault has also promised to the families of the tax cuts of 1000?$, in addition to position in favour of the addition of miles of motorways to reduce congestion. During the race, it has been criticized by his opponents for having made her pregnancy an electoral issue. Geneviève Guilbault testified several times that her spouse was going to avail of parental leave in order to stay with the child they are expecting in December.

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Ihssane El Ghernati, who was the political attaché of Sam Hamad during a decade, has relied on its proximity with the residents of Louis-Hébert in the course of his campaign. Ihssane El Ghernati has benefited from the support of the prime minister, Philippe Couillard, when she announced, at the very end of the race, that it would use its seat to be elected in game, in order to find a “solution” to the problems caused by Anacolor. The position on the wearing of the veil that she had defended in 2015 is coming to catch her on the ground. At the time, she had supported the Pakistani origin Zunera Ishaq, who asked to pay his oath of citizenship in wearing her niqab. Ihssane El Ghernati has maintained this position, despite the fact that it is in contradiction with a recent draft law liberal on the religious neutrality.

The candidate of the Parti québécois, Normand Beauregard, has put the emphasis on the environment and health by taking a stand against the pipeline Energy Is and defending the idea of an urban boulevard where others want rather to extend highway 40. Guillaume Boivin, Québec solidaire, has been engaged to stop the activities of Anacolor, in addition to suggest to add a route Metrobus service between Saint-Augustin and Québec

Eric Tétrault, left, was a candidate for a by-election in the Louis-Hebert riding. Tétrault withdrew from the race a week after it was called. Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS
​

QUEBEC — All eyes will be on the Quebec riding of Louis-Hébert on Monday as its 45,000 electors choose who will replace Liberal Sam Hamad.

The Quebec Liberal Party is hoping to hold on to this Quebec City riding, while the Coalition Avenir Québec is confident it can take it away, this despite both parties losing their initial candidates for the riding in scandals.

As of Sunday, 15 per cent of registered voters had cast ballots, about 22 per cent less than advance voting in the 2014 general election.

There are 10 candidates in the byelection, including Normand Beauregard of the Parti Québécois, Issane El Ghernati of the Liberals and Geneviève Guilbault of the CAQ. El Ghernati replaced businessman Éric Tétrault and Guilbault replaced banker Normand Sauvageau. Both resigned within hours of each other after revelations that they faced complaints because of workplace harassment.

The race won’t affect the Liberals’ majority in the 125-seat National Assembly. The Liberals have 68 seats, the PQ 28, the CAQ 20, Québec solidaire three, and five are independents.

A topsy-turvy campaign for the Louis-Hébert byelection ends tonight. Liberal candidate Ihssane El Ghernati, at the microphone, was a political aide to former minister Sam Hamad, who vacated the seat.

The runup to today's byelection race for former provincial cabinet minister Sam Hamad's old seat in the Quebec City riding of Louis-Hébert has been a rough one.

The candidates for the two main political parties jostling for the riding — the Liberals and Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) — were both ousted mid-campaign.

Their short-order replacements now find themselves in a pool of 10 contenders for the riding.
■Liberal and CAQ candidates drop out of Louis-Hébert byelection

When the campaign kicked off on a month ago, communications specialist Éric Tétrault represented the Liberals, the party that's held the seat for 14 years.

Banker Normand Sauvageau was carrying the banner for the CAQ, the Liberals' main rival in the contest.

Both were forced to step down within hours of each other, after allegations surfaced over their past workplace behaviour.

"It's certainly not good news for either of them. It does have a 'pox on both their houses' kind of effect," said Éric Grenier, the CBC's polling analyst.

Grenier said the fact that both parties experienced the same problem with the first candidates they picked could even out the damage, although some voters could start looking at other candidates on the ballot.

Geneviève Guilbault
Geneviève Guilbault had planned to run for the CAQ next year but ended up in the Louis-Hébert byelection race after her party's original candidate was dropped. (Radio-Canada)

2 female candidates take the reigns

The early campaign upheaval follows Hamad's resignation from the reigning Liberal government last spring. He had been shut out of cabinet for a year, after his political career was shaken by talk of ethical wrong-doing.

The new Liberal contender, Ihssane El Ghernati, who once worked as his political aide, is hoping to use her history with Hamad to her advantage.

She's said her job gives her a profound knowledge of the riding, where she also lives, and its constituents.

"I will be ready to keep serving them, just like I have been for several years," she said in a debate on Radio-Canada last week.

Nonetheless, her campaign got off to a rocky moment when she promised to negotiate the relocation of the controversial Anacolor paint plant within the next year — a pledge Liberal Environment Minister David Heurtel later distanced himself from, even though they are members of the same party.

CAQ candidate running year earlier than planned

The Quebec coroner's former spokesperson, Geneviève Guilbault, had expected to run for the CAQ in a different Quebec City riding in the 2018 provincial election, but has pushed her plans forward, running while six months pregnant.

She is telling voters that, if elected, she will not take more than four months of maternity leave. However, she is trying to keep the focus of the campaign on politics.

"The Liberals have been in power for too long. Citizens are telling me this a lot. We have to send a strong message to the Liberal government," she said.

Plenty of competition

Other political parties see the political commotion that rocked the byelection campaign as a potential opportunity. Québec Solidaire and the Parti Québécois stepped up their campaigns.

"There's a real chance," said PQ leader Jean-François Lisée, who's been campaigning with his candidate, biologist Normand Beauregard. "I have been in Louis-Hébert six times now."

"I think it's a race between the three: the Liberals, the CAQ, and us. And, I am feeling confident," he said.

Coalition Avenir Québec candidate Geneviève Guilbault celebrates her victory with leader François Legault, in a provincial by-election in the riding of Louis-Hébert, Monday, October 2, 2017 in Quebec City. Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS
​

QUEBEC — Voters in the riding of Louis-Hébert handed the Liberals a serious kick in the teeth Monday, electing a Coalition Avenir Québec MNA and giving the party a useful springboard for the looming general election.

Even more humiliating for the Liberals, who have held the riding since 2003, they came close to placing third behind the Parti Québécois — a party that has not done well in this francophone federalist region for years.

The CAQ’s upset win — a classic political shellacking — rapidly put a damper on the Liberal election evening in a suburban pub with party members and a scattering of cabinet ministers trying to keep a brave face while quietly sipping wine and beer.

The trouncing was clear and the Liberals conceded defeat early with Premier Philippe Couillard arriving before 10 p.m. to speak to supporters. He did not acknowledge any errors on the part of Liberals and said the Liberals would continue on the same path.

“Tonight we didn’t get the result we wanted, but let me say there will be other evenings, other evenings of victories, other happy mornings where together we will move to victory,” Couillard told the crowd.

Down the road, at a golf club, a pumped CAQ leader François Legault was crowing victory.

“The voters have sent a scathing message to Philippe Couillard,” Legault told caquistes. “And at the same time they have sent a message to all of Quebec.

“Think about it. If it is possible to win Louis-Hébert, taking just about all the ridings (in Quebec) is also possible.”

With all 152 ballot boxes counted, it was clear the Liberals’ share of the vote had vanished into thin air.

Former Liberal MNA Sam Hamad won here in 2014 with a majority of over 8,000 votes but this time candidate Ihssane El Ghernati, Hamad’s former riding office employee, was left clutching a floatation device as a wave of change roared through.

It was CAQ candidate Geneviève Guilbault, a political greenhorn parachuted into the riding at the last minute, who reeled in Hamad’s old majority. She wound up with 51 per cent of the vote, 7,658 more than the Liberal El Ghernati.

The PQ candidate, biologist Normand Beauregard, came close to matching the PQ’s old score of about 18 per cent of the vote. The Québec solidaire candidate Guillaume Boivin managed five per cent.

The importance of the win for the CAQ at this stage is huge. With only a year to go before the general election, it gives him fuel for the fire that voters want change after almost 14 years of Liberal rule.

Although Legault tried to lowball the vote by saying his expectations were modest because he considered Louis-Hébert a Liberal fortress, privately his aides sensed victory. The riding has swung in the past — even to the PQ.

On the other hand, it was considered a relatively safe if not key Liberal seat in the Quebec City battleground where the Liberals hold nine of the 11 seats.

The campaign rapidly took on the allure of a dress rehearsal for the general election in 2018. Legault’s message of less government and lower taxes rang true while Guilbault, the former spokesperson for the provincial coroner’s office, campaigned under an integrity banner.

El Ghernati found herself offering voters more of the same — not what they wanted to hear.

The two were not the original candidates in the race, which careened out of control almost from the first day. The original Liberal candidate, Éric Tétrault, and the original CAQ candidate, Normand Sauvageau, both pulled out of the race within hours of each other and only days after the campaign got started.

The election doesn’t affect the Liberal majority in the 125-seat house. The Liberals have 68 seats, the PQ 28, the CAQ 21, QS three and there are five independents

The PQ was a nationalist party that gathered support across the spectrum on the economic issues that face the province. I think the CAQ is the more conservative half of the PQ, which has promised not to hold any more referendums.

Their success should be encouraging for the Bernier conservatives. Bernier can speak to the same people, and perhaps excite them. He should be out on the hustings, and not in Parliament unless there's a point.

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